My 5 Wishes for the New “X-Files”

I may not have been born until the second season of “The X-Files” was well underway, but reruns and a lot of Netflix quickly turned me into a lifelong fan of the ’90s classic. I love almost everything about the dark and thought-provoking show, but I’ve never been satisfied with how it all ended, so I was beyond thrilled when Fox announced today that “X-Files” will be returning for six episodes. In preparation for the event series, which Fox says will enter production this summer, I’ve jotted down my five dream wishes for the show’s future.

1. Aliens

Maybe this doesn’t even need to be here, ’cause I think we’re all on the same page, but if they’re going to drag Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny and I through this again after the disappointing “I Want to Believe”, we had best get some god damn aliens. I don’t know what ever possessed Chris Carter to make the show’s great comeback film about random terrestrial supernatural stuff, but can we please not do that again? I don’t care that most of the show’s episodes were Monster-of-the-Weeks. I want aliens in my “X-Files”!

2. For the Truth to Actually Be Out There This Time

The time for overwhelming ambiguity and plot lines that don’t go anywhere has past. If it does nothing else, this new season needs to actually explain what was going on with that myth arc. As any X-Phile knows, the show started off with a brilliantly constructed story that couldn’t maintain the same level of excellence going into the later seasons. This led to a lot of loose ends and spotty explanations for mysteries that were initially so compelling. This new season can finally give Carter’s brilliant arc the conclusion it deserves.

3. Samantha

This ties in with number two, but I think it’s entitled to its own spot on the list. “The X-Files” spent years giving us red herrings and clues in the mysterious search for Samantha Mulder, only to end it with a contradictory conclusion that satisfied absolutely no one and made about zero sense. The Samantha mystery was the viewer’s introduction to both Fox Mulder’s character arc and the alien story as a whole. It would be poetic and satisfying to, after so many years, bookend the story with some proper closure for Mulder and the audience.

4. Returning Favorites

“The X-Files” wasn’t exactly an ensemble show, but that doesn’t mean that Duchovny and Anderson are the only actors Fox needs to bring back. The big one for me is, of course, Mitch Pillegi. I’m hopeful because of his involvement in “I Want to Believe”. After all, Skinner may have started out as a menacing suit, but he turned into Mulder and Scully’s only true ally by the end of the series. Beyond Skinner, I’d love to see faces like the Cigarette-Smoking Man, Krycek or Maria. I know they’re all dead, but that hasn’t really stopped the show in the past. I’d even be down for a Doggett/Reyes cameo (I said CAMEO).

5. The Immortal Elephant in the Room

This one is probably a hopeless fantasy, and I can’t say I blame the show for never really tackling it. It presents a lot of complications and a very sad ending for the Mulder/Scully romance. However, an answer to the show’s most bizarre mystery, that of Scully’s possible immortality, would be a nice surprise. The implication was thrown in during my personal favorite X-Files episode, “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose”, and almost completely ignored afterwords. Is she going to live forever? Am I the only one who is still caught up on this? Perhaps they could use it to explain why Anderson has aged, like, maybe five years since the show ended!

Do you agree with my list? What are your ideas for the new season? Leave a comment!